Infatuation
by Blu Rose
Summary: One-sided ArcticFoxShipping. Normally, Zorua and Zoroark transform to seduce humans, either to play jokes on them or to lead them to their demise. But He was different. He would make her want him without transforming, Scraggy and Pansage be damned.


_I heart Zoroark! It's now one of my favorite Pokémon—not to use, but I admire it for its appearance and its ability to create illusions. When looking up Hilda pairings on Bulbapedia's ever growing list out of boredom, I came across the ArcticFoxShipping: which is HildaxZoroark. I like it because it reminds me of the Japanese tales of kitsune who fall in love with men and masquerade as a woman. The only catchable Zoroark in the game is a female, though, so the one in this very short story is about a wild male found in Lostlorn Forest._

_Disclaimer: I don't own the Pokémon series, but if I did, well, I doubt it would be so popular…_

**X-X-X**

**~Infatuation~**

Zorua and Zoroark are known for their tricks, especially their manipulations of the human heart. There have been a number of incidents where those illusion-making foxes would entice humans by transforming into handsome men and women, silently seducing them. Zorua do it for fun, to see the shocked expression on a human's face. Zoroark do it to protect their families, leading trainers and hunters alike to awful fates. They've gotten bad reputations for that.

But _he_ was different. Or at least, he was _now_. For he was a Zoroark that was sincerely, truly, _madly_ in love…with a human. Not even a woman, but a girl. A girl he just met today, even. One that had helped him when saved him from some wild Sawsbuck he had annoyed. He was never much of a fighter and would have been impaled by their horns had _she_ not arrive in time to save him. She had been so nice to him, speaking gentle words as she healed her injuries before he ran off, not for safety, but to continue watching her from the bushes.

This is what humans would call _'love at first sight'_. This is what Zorua and Zoroark called _'being stupid'_.

He liked this human girl. Her shape, her scent, the sound of her voice commanding her Pokémon and the kindness she showed them when they got hurt as she searched for her target…a Pansage. Very depressing, to say the least, that she was more interested in one of those sprout-haired monkeys than a fine specimen such as himself. Didn't humans _like_ rare Pokémon like his kind? But no. The few times he got the guts to appear before her, she would just pat him on the shoulder, say _'Sorry, I already have a Dark type.'_ and walk off. And it was painful to know that a common Scraggy was better than him in her eyes.

At some point, mere staring wasn't enough. He wanted to be _caught_, and held like her Dewott and her Pansear and that stupid Scraggy. So he transformed into a Pansage, hoping that she would throw Poké Balls first and ask questions later. No dice, because as soon as he was hit by an attack—like all others of his species—he lost concentration from the pain and wound up transforming back into his true form. At first she smiled at it. She said it was cute and that made him happy. Unfortunately, her happiness lessened after the fifteenth time, so he resumed his watching her from the bushes.

After two hours of searching, she finally found one. A Pansage was lying on a tree stump and napping in the sunlight. She didn't take the risk of sending out her Pokémon and just threw a Poké Ball at it…and _he_ took a risk by jumping out in front of the Poké Ball and getting caught within. It shook for a few seconds before it clicked lock. And as quickly as he had been caught, he had been sent out, greeted by her unamused face. The Pansage was long gone by now, woken up and driven away by the cursing the Zoroark had heard for only a moment before being caught. His proud smirk fell. Was she going to release him? Yell at him? Have her Pokémon hurt him?

"…If I release you, you're just going to keep following me and interfering, aren't you?" She asked. He mutely nodded. She sighed in frustration before folding her arms across her chest. "Alright, you can stay with me, but you have to help me find that Pansage for all the trouble you gave me!" His proud smirk returned and he practically pounced her, licking her face like a Lillipup.

_He_ was different from others of his species. He would win her heart and gain affection in return without resorting to illusions and tricks…and prove he was better than a damn Scraggy while he was at it.

**X-X-X**

**Remember to review.**


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